Oakville's war against the Emerald Ash Borer continues

Insidehalton.com
June 4, 2015
By David Lea

The Town of Oakville continued its war against the Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) Monday, launching its annual Ash Canopy Conservation program.

Oakville’s Forestry Services Manager John McNeil announced the initiation of the municipal ash tree-saving program on Barclay Crescent where virtually the entire tree canopy is made up of large ash trees.

The event saw municipally-hired contractors inject the bio-insecticide TreeAzin into the ash trees to protect them against the invasive EAB, which is more voracious this year than ever.

“This year we are moving into an aggressive treatment phase. Why? Because the insect population has built up substantially,” said McNeil.

“The Town, through its consultant BioForest, has been measuring the build-up of the population. It’s fascinating how, since 2009 the population has been rising in numbers and spreading across Oakville and the rest of the GTA.

We have a map on our website showing where the insect is and they are at extreme-to-high levels in many neighbourhoods.”

Due to this escalated danger to local ash trees, some will be receiving TreeAzin injections yearly as opposed to the usual treatment every two years.

McNeil said the Barclay Crescent trees are just a few of the 2,000 ash trees located along the public road allowance and in the town’s active parks that will receive the treatment this year.

There are a total of 5,700 municipal ash trees receiving treatment in the Ash Canopy Conservation program. Town officials note this number makes up 75 per cent of the treatable municipal ash tree canopy on streets and in parks.

Town staff said Oakville’s EAB treatment program is among the most aggressive in Canada.

“Council is committed to protecting Oakville’s tree canopy from Emerald Ash Borer,” said Oakville Mayor Rob Burton in a press release.

“We are continuing to create a cleaner, greener Oakville thanks to the efforts of the Town and residents treating municipal and private ash trees.”

There are approximately 200,000 ash trees in Oakville, including approximately 130,000 municipal ash trees.

The metallic, green-coloured invasive beetle has killed tens of millions of ash trees in North America since its discovery here in 2002.

The pest tunnels into the bark and destroys the tree’s vascular system, killing the tree within a few years when left untreated.

Municipal street and park ash trees that did not qualify for treatment are being removed for public safety and replaced with trees of different species.

Select trees marked for removal will be identified by a red ribbon.

Part of the Town’s EAB management program includes a public awareness campaign to educate residents about ash tree treatment and removal and replacement options.

Burton has proclaimed the first week of June Emerald Ash Borer Awareness Week to remind residents they too can take action against EAB by removing dead ash trees and planting new native trees to contribute to the town’s overall tree canopy.

Fighting EAB isn’t cheap.

This year the Town has approved a budget of just under $3.9 million to manage EAB.

The bulk of that money will pay for the removal of dead, dying or infested ash trees in Oakville’s woodlands.

Around $300,000 is going towards the treatment program.

McNeil said treating the eligible municipal street trees is far cheaper than paying for their removal when EAB kills them.

“Council has made the decision that canopy conservation is the most economic and ecologically practical approach to take when managing Emerald Ash Borer, and the literature supports this, as opposed to simply just allowing the insect to clear-cut communities,” said McNeil.